It's almost OVER.

The UNsale is almost over... October flew by so quickly!  Remember-- purchase any of my patterns by the end of October, and I will donate 20% to the Canadian Red Cross in its efforts to help refugees.

As part of the sale, I promised a new design--a pattern release...and here it is!  Over is now live!

I could say more, but you know what they say about pictures, so here they are...almost all from my photo shoot with a friend who modeled.  Enjoy!  Please check out Over before October's over.  Why's it called Over?  Oversized, over-the-head, summer's over, this fast project's over? That kind of thing.  :)

Last but not least, here are a couple of shots of us:  (and this is why I can't do the modelling, I seem to have a lot of help....)

a winner! and more mitts...

Congratulations to Calypso Hope!  I used a random number generator and you have won! I will be in touch soon regarding how to send you your new Denise 2 Go needles.  Thanks to all who entered as part of my UNsale giveaway....I appreciate it.

And, before I forget, please remember that the UNsale continues through the end of October.  Purchase any of my Ravelry downloadable patterns and  I will donate 20% to help refugees through the Canadian Red Cross Refugee Crisis Appeal matching program. Thanks for helping me help others!

Now, to update you on the "winter is coming" knitting around here....I finished my second set of The Hole Inside Mitts.  About 5 minutes after they finished drying on the radiator, (I block them by hand washing, and leave them to dry on our old fashioned hot water radiators) somebody rushed to put them on.  It is getting nippy here, and some mornings hover around 0C. (freezing, around 32F).... So these mitts got put on quickly!  Soon we'll need to put on double mitts, but for now, we can enjoy our new ones solo!

I caught a few photos of them in action, though.  I hope to get the photos up on Ravelry sometime soon.  You may note that the mitten tops are different, as per the request of the four year old in question.  These are his color and style choices!

"Come on, MOMMY!  Hurry UP!  Let's go outside to play NOW!"
Note: I deleted the other images where his hands were a complete blur. We move fast around here. :)

Denise 2 Go giveaway

Remember!

In October, I am having an UNsale.  The UN (and many others) have asked us to step up to help the millions of refugees fleeing war right now.  If you buy any of my patterns or my eBook in October, I will donate 20% of the proceeds to the Canadian Red Cross Refugee Crisis Appeal.  The Canadian government is matching these donations...so it will double our efforts to help.  Thank you for helping me to help others!

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Now, on to our exciting giveaway...

A while back, I was contacted by a kind person at Yarncanada.ca.  I was asked if I wanted to do a review of these new Denise 2 Go Knitting and Crochet sets.  I said yes. :)

Why?  I travelled all over the U.S., in Canada, and abroad with my handy dandy Original Denise Needle kit.  It has served me really well!  What do I think about it?  On a brief pro/con list...

There are many pros...and this new travel set is even better.
1) It's small . It fits neatly in a suitcase.  This new set is even smaller in size than the original, because it divides up the sizes.  The giveaway here is for the bigger needles, US sizes 10.5 through 15.  (Perfect for knitting several of my designs, including ones like Knitting for Mother Earth Cowl or Slippy the Cowl, on the go.)

2) It is flexible and you can knit on several projects at once, whatever comes up when you happen by a yarn store... with these needles.  The new soft packaging also includes a crochet hook, which is very handy for any last minute cast-on or finishing needs.

3) The colors are bright and cheerful.  You can see the needles as you knit.  This is no small thing.  Very good.

What's not perfect about these needles?
1) The plastic is a bit sticky with some yarns.  This is great for a beginner, it helps the stitches stay put.  It can be a bit slow for some fibers when an accomplished knitter is zooming along.  (I always ignored this issue, because honestly, if you have the right needle on a trip, who cares if it is a little slow.  Slow is better than nothing!)

2) If your knitting style involves some wrist movement, as mine does, it seems to eventually put some wear into the cord attachment.  In my case, one of the cords seems to like to detach sometimes now--after many years of use.  (I also do this to other kinds of circulars, so it is not unique to the Denise needles)  Solutions?  Buy a new cord. :)  Other solutions?  Change your technique...that's for me to work on in the future...

3) Last comment...sometimes, you might have two projects that need the same cord or same needle at once.  Again, you can buy extras and replacements.  This is maybe just the problem for people like me, who do several projects at once.  I've got a lot of needles though, and I'd suggest buying more if this is your issue, too. :)  I can never have too many #6(4mm) circulars, for some reason, and I need about 4 sets of #3(3.25mm) double points, but whatever, everybody is different.  This is why there are so many gorgeous needle sets!

I've decided to do a giveaway of these needles--to pass the joy along.  If you'd like a chance to win these, please leave a comment on this post
by noon CT, October 21st,
that allows me to contact you via email, Ravelry, or your blog (whatever works for you, but it has to work for me too!).

In the ideal world, please also consider buying a pattern to support the UNsale, telling your knitting friends about the UNsale, or making a donation this month to support refugees.  Winter is coming, and there are so many people who have lost everything...right down to their winter clothes and their knitting needles.

Thank you.

The UNsale -reasons to be grateful

The last of the big fall holidays is finally over.  We had a blast, actually--I brought a couple of friends with us to services to help out (it is hard to keep up with two four year olds by myself!) and both of my boys loved the dancing and singing.  We nearly had a tidal wave in the clawfoot bathtub later that night as twins re-enacted their favorite songs of the day.

However, we are now finally back to a mostly "regular" schedule (thank goodness), which means back to preschool and work as usual.  My challahs are now no longer round --back to a regular braided one.  

We have one more holiday though, Thanksgiving.  (Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend, in October.)  So, I have time during these holidays to think how lucky we were.  How even though the Canadian dollar has plummeted and food prices are rising here--we can still afford to eat well.  How even though it is getting cold here and winter is coming?  We can stay warm in our house, with our clothes, heat, electricity and hot water for those baths.

I am also in the midst of making new mitts for my guys, who grow pretty quickly, and again, I feel glad I can sit down and produce something to keep us warm...that I have the tools, the skills, and the chance to do this.  If I were on the run, my home destroyed, and our belongings on our back, I could not do these things.  (I am not posting any awful pictures of the world's war destruction and death--it's all in the news...)

So, I wanted to make a donation to help refugees.  The Canadian government is doing a matching donation, too.  If I donate to certain specific causes (the Red Cross, for instance), the government will match the donation.

At the same time, my pattern sales have decreased--perhaps because I haven't been so good at promoting them.  It seems when I run a sale (20% off, for instance...) more people purchase patterns, but that won't help me raise any money!

So, I am running the UNsale through the end of October...a chance to do what the UN suggests and help refugees.  If you buy any of my patterns or my e-book in October, I will donate 20% of what I make to charity.  There's no special discount or coupon for the patterns on the buyer's end--except that a portion of the purchase goes to help refugees when they need it most.  At the end of the month, I'll make that donation. Join me in knitting mitts for winter or choose a hat...whatever suits you.

Meanwhile, I hope to run a few giveaways, a review, and more.  Please join me--and if you don't need to download any patterns, that is fine...perhaps consider donating a different way, on your own.

With that?  I'll say--Thanks.